December 2021 Update

“The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint.
Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.”

— Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation)

Dear friends,

What uncertain days we live in!

Only  a  couple of weeks ago we seemed to be taking slow steps forward in regards to international travel when the U.K. Government finally gave approval to the Sinopharm vaccine, which is what we’ve all had. Ah, but they wouldn’t accept Zimbabwean vaccine cards as proof! Then a few days later we rejoiced to see that at last our cards would be acceptable. So off I went on 22nd November to rebook my flights which had been cancelled in early 2020 and got everything settled for next year…only to wake up 3 days later to find all flights from Zimbabwe into England had been banned for the weekend because of Omicron and subsequently we are back on the ‘red list’.  Hey ho! One thing we can depend upon is that despite the on-going turmoil, God is in control and so we just carry on with what He has called us to do here and trust Him to work it all out.

Since I last sent out a newsletter we have received two more children into our family: a little boy, Ruponeso, (Healing or Salvation) aged about 16 months, and a few days later a 3 week old baby girl, Precious. It’s possible that Precious may be fostered with a view to adoption if all of the official paperwork goes through. The Department of Social Welfare introduced the potential mother to us a couple of weeks ago and she is so keen to receive Precious, so we are praying that everything goes through smoothly. Unfortunately, I am not legally allowed to show you photographs of either of the children at this point.

Just over 24 years ago another little baby girl called Hannah, who was about the same age as Precious, came into our care. On November 6th I had the privilege of attending this beautiful young lady’s graduation from the Culinary Arts Academy. She is currently sitting her final exams in a Higher Diploma Course and currently has 2 job offers open to her starting mid- December. A good position to be in!  She’s just praying about which one to accept.

It’s so encouraging to see how our young people are developing, not only in their career choices, but in their relationship with the Lord.

Over the past couple of months Danniel and Bridget have linked up with teams from Operation Mobilisation who have twice come out to spend a day with our youth. The young people  were really encouraged and uplifted as they explored the theme of ‘Known by Him, Named by Him, Sent by Him’, through teaching on the life of Moses, discussion groups and, of course (!), lots of fun and games.

We are looking forward to an on-going, fruitful partnership with O.M. in the future.

As we enter into this Advent Season with what appear to be even more uncertain times ahead, let’s not forget that while everything around seems to be in such turmoil, we and our circumstances are known by Him and He has named and sent us into this specific point in history in order to fulfil His purposes in and through our lives.

What ever your plans are for Christmas this year may it be a time of joy and hope, knowing that the Light that shone in the darkness all those years ago in Bethlehem in a time of darkness, turmoil and confusion, still shines.

With love and gratitude for your continued care and support,

Lesley

November 2020 Update

“The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint. Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.”

— Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation))

Dear friends, 

I wonder how many of the people you have communicated with this week have NOT mentioned ‘Corona virus’? It seems that a word that wasn’t even in our vocabulary a year ago has become the dominating topic of conversation, and in so many ways the regulator of our lives.  Remember that phrase ‘Don’t talk about the war’?...I think we need to start applying that idea ... ‘Don’t talk about the virus’, but of course you’ll all be wondering how things are here at Montgomery so let’s get it over with quickly and as succinctly as possible:  Whilst the national restrictions have been eased we are still maintaining as strict an isolation as is practically possible, now well into our 7th month. Many people in the area around us are now simply carrying on their lives as though  COVID doesn’t exist, however most shops in the cities are continuing with their policy of ‘No mask, no entry’, and requiring everyone to have their temperature taken and hands sanitised upon entry, some still only allowing  one or two people inside at a time in order to maintain social distancing, and, quite significantly, mission hospitals and private healthcare facilities are all still maintaining a very strict  prevention/protection policy; government hospitals and clinics are a  different story.

The overall national virus situation remains a mystery with only about 10 new reported cases per day and a total of about 8,000 since March. There are so many theories being thrown around about the low figures: under reporting, climate, cross immunity.... but who knows? And of course the question remains, will there be an upsurge in cases here as the W.H.O. are predicting? One thing for sure though, we are so grateful that the curve is more or less flat at present because this country simply could not cope with a big outbreak. So enough of that….

All kinds of other ‘ills’ continue to plague the country: disruption, discontent and strikes in the government health care sector, disruption, ‘go-slows’ and strikes in the educational sector, restricted public transport services and of course the ever present political instability and economic difficulties.

At Montgomery though it continues to feel as though we are living in ‘Goshen’, with all kinds of ‘plagues’ and problems going on around us but amazing provision and protection for us in this little oasis ……

* No nurses’ strike at Montgomery…quite the opposite! As well as continuing to cover her normal responsibilities Fiona took on extra, becoming temporary mother to 17 girls for six weeks while we found a replacement for Mai Anesu. I am pleased to say that the position has now been filled by Mai Karonga who joined us at the end of September. She is a very humble, gentle spirited lady and is building good relationships with the girls who very quickly showed they are feeling safe and secure with her. Please pray for our new mother as she settles into this very big, rather unusual family, and also for Fiona as she continues to do everything she possibly can to keep us all healthy.

* No teachers striking at Montgomery. While three of our young adult students (Peter, Hannah & Linda) are now back at their respective universities/colleges and all doing well, the remaining three (Connie, Eunice & Paul) continue to do a great job working alongside Bridget to provide our school children with small group tuition while their schools remain closed.

Government schools have opened for those who are due to take national exams at the end of this year so Faith, Taedza & Simba have been attending lessons for the past three weeks in preparation for their O level exams and Philip, Tino, Precious, Dorica and one of our staff children, Ropofadzo, started back this week to prepare for their Grade 7 Primary school exams.

Please pray for Bridget and our remaining 3 ‘student teachers’, Connie, Eunice & Paul, as they do everything they can to provide academic help to our school children still forced to remain at home.

Pray too for all of our students, Tertiary, Secondary & Primary, who have important exams coming up that they will have good success, as well as staying free of the word we are not going to talk about.

* No restricted transport services at Montgomery. A few weeks ago, in order to help protect the whole family, Danniel and his brother Mike drove Connie, Eunice and Paul to and from their university each day for a week so that they could take their end of semester exams without being exposed to unnecessary risk by staying in their student accommodation. A rather exhausting daily round trip of about 150km, but a sacrifice our very own chauffeurs were more than willing to make. We are also driving  the 3 Secondary  and 5 Primary school students to and from school each day, (a total of 36km for the Secondary students and 28km in the other direction for the Primary students), in order to reduce risk. Danniel continues to be the ‘point man’ as far as these trips and most off -site business is concerned with Fiona and me stepping in when necessary.

Initially I wasn’t going off site at all but with the ‘unmentionable’ crisis going on for so long it has been necessary for me to make a few trips into the city. My first supply-buying trip with Danniel at the end of August turned out to be somewhat eventful. In order to save time we went our separate ways in a big wholesalers and I reached up to lift down what I thought was a case of 12 large cans of floor polish from a high shelf but it turned out to be 2 cases of 6, and the top case slid off and hit me on the forehead just above my left eye. Amazingly in spite of the impressive ‘shiner’ that resulted and a slight temporary headache, I suffered no ill effects, except for the irritation of being asked what seemed a hundred times, ‘Whatever happened to your eye?’!  I am only allowed out now on the condition that I do no lifting and avoid all contact with floor polish!

Pray for physical stamina and safety on the roads for Danniel as he keeps our ‘transport system’ running efficiently.

* No real sense of instability at Montgomery, again, quite the opposite…and even in spite of the economic difficulties, we are finding ways through the mess and continue to experience some wonderful provision and examples of generosity from many different people.

For example, something we have wanted to do for a while is make the water supply to our support-staff accommodation more efficient and easy to access.Some time ago our Management Board Chairman shared this desire with an acquaintance who owns an irrigation supply company. Just recently the company donated to us a 5,000 litre water tank to help us realise this dream. Our maintenance crew built a stand and the tank was plumbed into the system last week.

Other local people have continued to bless us with generous donations of food supplies and of course a very big thank you goes to so many of you who continue to send financial help either through the Montgomery Heights Zimbabwe Children’s Foundation in the U.K. or through Voice of Triumph Ministries in the U.S.A. We have been able to draw these funds in as we have needed them through the World Remit cash transfer system. You have really helped ease some of the economic pressure for us.

We thank God for everyone who continues to stand with us in prayer, financial and practical support.

One of our younger children asked the other day, ‘Are we going to cancel Christmas this year?’ Absolutely not! We are currently trying to sort out what to give as gifts to this big family. Surprisingly goods are available in the shops and so if you would like to help fund some of the children’s Christmas goodies, as so many of you have done before, we’d really appreciate it. You can send donations, with a notation ‘Christmas’   either to MHZCF in the U.K. or to V.O.T. in the U.S.A. 

              U.K.: Payable to: MHZCF       Send to: MHZCF, 1C Manor Place, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 4BB

             U.S.: Payable to: Voice of Triumph Ministries       Send to: 76321, Timbercreek Blvd. Yulee, FL, 32097

             or see www.montgomeryheights.org for details of direct giving options

There’s no doubt that the ‘unmentionable’ has affected our lives in all kinds of ways, not least in the fact that we are tired. The entire leadership team, Danniel, Bridget, Fiona and I cancelled our leave this year and we have not had even the shortest break away from the unrelenting pressure of organising and re-organising, and re-organising yet again the many different plans we’ve had to put into place with every change in circumstances.

I came across a wonderful, rather humorous quote the other day from the American Astronaut Captain James A Lovell:

 ‘Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult someone with less ability might have your job.’

Not one of us considers what we are doing at Montgomery a ‘job’; it’s simply our life, but it certainly has its share of problems and I am so very thankful for a team of colleagues who between them have great abilities and unwavering commitment. In the words of one of my favourite songs of the moment, together we are ‘holding onto faith 'Cause(we) know You'll make a way, And (we) don't always understand, And (we) don't always get to see, But (we) will believe it, (we)  will believe it………That You were faithful then, You'll be faithful now’.’

Lesley

August 2019 Update - Lesley

“The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint. Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.”

— Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation)

Dear friends,

In just over two weeks I shall be winging my way to England for a month’s break, visiting with family and friends, (and electricity & bread…Yeah!) so I thought I should just update you on things before I go.

We continue to face the daily challenge of virtually no mains electricity supply except for a few hours during the night. It makes administrative tasks much more difficult than usual and to be honest generally makes one feel rather ‘flat’ a lot of the time. I was commenting to someone the other day that after months of this, with no prospect of a solution probably before the middle of next year, it seems to be having an effect like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), and their comment was, ‘Maybe we should call it ZAD (Zimbabwe Affective Disorder)’!

It’s quite sobering how spiritually ‘bi-polar’ one can become in it all. One day I am genuinely rejoicing in the fact that the Lord has counted us worthy and trusted us with living through these times of challenge where increasingly we have to depend upon Him for provision when all human sources fail, and I am excited about the miraculous provision we are seeing. Then the next morning when the electricity supply goes off at 4.00am instead of the usual 5.00am (before I have had a chance to make my coffee!), I find myself very grumpily groaning ‘Oh no, not already; how much more of this do we have to go through?’ And yet, compared to thousands in Zimbabwe who are struggling terribly with lack of even the basic necessities of life, I have so much; my life is so easy. Believe me, the situation in the country is teaching us all a lot about ourselves!  

A few weeks ago our police-man son, Emmanuel, and his wife Mabel were blessed with a son, whom they named after his father. They brought him home for a weekend at the end of July so that we could dedicate him to the Lord in our church service. It was such a joy to bless little Emmanuel (God with us). Daddy Emmanuel came to us as a confused, broken spirited, angry little 8 year old, but now 22 years later he is building his own family with love and gentleness. A wonderful testimony of God’s healing, restoring power.

Two weeks before we met baby Emmanuel we introduced another little person to our church family. An eleven day old baby boy was placed into our care on 11th July. He came to us without a Christian name and we very much wanted to give him a name that spoke something significant over his life as well as prophetically over this troubled nation so we have called him Tinevimbo, which means ‘We have hope’.

And indeed we do! Despite the occasional moments of slipping into ‘ZAD’,  we have hope because God is with us, and because of that certainty we continue, with your prayers and support urging us on, to press on through the difficulties in order to raise a generation of young people, healed and whole, who will make a difference in this nation in the future.

I will be away from Montgomery from 23rd August to 25th September. Please would you pray for the rest of the leadership team who will be ‘holding the fort’ while I am away. Pray that together they will have stamina to push through ZAD, and wisdom to know how to deal with any unforeseen challenges that arise. One thing for sure whether it’s Fiona, Danniel and Bridget in Zimbabwe or me in England,

“The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. ”

— Psalm 46:7

Lesley

June 2019 Update - Lesley

“The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint. Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.”

— Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation)

Dear friends,

It’s been quite an interesting couple of months since I last sent out a newsletter.

One of the major ‘events’ we had to deal with in May was that one day while sorting out some things in our clothing store room, (a stand-alone building about 12m x 6m) one of our older girls, Linda, and I found a freshly shed snake skin in a box of clothing. Snakes are not that uncommon but this was a big one…a 2.2 metre long black mamba skin. Mambas are deadly and there is no anti-venom in the country. Snakes in the wild are one thing, but in a confined space full of boxes of clothes in a building all too close to our Baby Unit it’s a different story. Our maintenance men cut down all of the overhanging trees which we thought might be giving the snake an entry point and we called in a snake expert who, with the help of our men, cleared and checked loads of boxes and then temporarily stored them in our library while snake traps were set in the clothing store. Despite baiting them with live squirrels, which most uncooperatively kept escaping, and live chicks, which stayed put and cheeped away tantalisingly all night, the snake was never caught. We can only assume that it was outside hunting when the men cut down the tree branches and then couldn’t find a way back into its cosy sleeping place and so has relocated…far, far away from our Baby Unit and clothing store …we hope!

Just over 23 years ago when we opened our special care Baby Unit and took in our first three little ones, Chipo was one of those babies. I remember so clearly her wearing a little frilly yellow dress the day we collected her from the hospital. Now all these years later, the first weekend in June saw Fiona and me heading to the city of Mutare to celebrate with her as she graduated from Africa University with a B.Sc. in Psychology. What a special time it was. Fi and I caused considerable amusement to those sitting near us when we leaped up to ululate and cheer for her in true Shona style as she was ‘capped’. Not what they expected from the only white ‘mothers’ in a crowd of over 5,000, but there was no way we were going to be ‘British’ when Montgomery’s first university graduate was being honoured!

Chipo returned home with us and on the Sunday evening our church youth group surprised her with a party to honour her achievement. They took the initiative, funded and cooked a wonderful meal, decorated the dining room and blessed her with a gift. Lots of speeches, lots of fun and laughter; and a wonderful sense of ‘family’!

Chipo is now living in Harare where she is working as a counsellor at ARC, the Adult Rape Clinic. Such a blessing that she has found employment when so many of her fellow graduates are still unable to find positions .

Meanwhile we continue to press on through the national shortages.

One of the major difficulties the whole country has been experiencing over this past couple of months has been excessively long electricity cuts, often lasting 18 hours a day, every day. Sadly this is not likely to be a short term thing. Unusually low rainfall resulted in low water levels at the main hydro-electric plant in Kariba, poor maintenance of the coal powered generators in Hwange causes frequent breakdowns, millions of dollars are owed to other countries for already received electricity….. just some of the causes. So we are all trying to adjust our daily schedules considerably in order to work around the few hours each day that we can afford to run our generator.

Quite often we have had no telephone communication either as the transmitter that covers our area runs on diesel and the telephone company keep running out of fuel to power it!

To say that it is difficult trying to juggle things around these issues would be an understatement. Don’t ever take for granted your electricity and telephone signal!

Then a few weeks ago the country ran out of bread flour. No bread available anywhere, though plenty of cakes and buns! (Figure that?!) Whether or not it was the much maligned Marie Antoinette who said it, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” does rather seem to fit the situation!

So we’ve had to quickly re-think what we do about the children’s packed lunches for school. I am grateful for our ever-resourceful senior cook who came up with some workable plans and with various readjustments to the menu we are still managing to maintain a balanced diet for the children…and no, we have not just “Let them eat cake.”!

The patience and resilience of the average Zimbabwean with all of these problems continues to amaze me, but this week the nation has been hit with yet another man-made crisis which has really rocked the nation and one wonders whether this might just be the tipping point.  

For some time now Zimbabwe has had a multi-currency economy, with the US dollar being the most commonly used foreign currency. Week by week the local Bond or RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) dollar has been losing value, and  with the exchange rate increasingly being governed by the black market, prices in Bond/RTGS have continued to rise, while by contrast quite often US prices have been lower than for years. On Monday morning, with no prior warning whatsoever, the government introduced a Statutory Instrument which, with immediate effect, made trading in any currency other than Bond/RTGS illegal. This caused mass panic everywhere with people rushing to banks to try to draw out cash from their foreign currency accounts, many banks shutting their doors, shops closing because they didn’t know how to re-price their goods etc.. Neither we nor anyone else we have talked to have any idea what to do or how it is going to work out. Theoretically, once everything settles down this decision could possibly help stabilise the economy but without having had any time to prepare for the change everything is currently in turmoil, and with a history of so much rampant corruption in high places, people have lost trust in even seemingly sensible policies.

And so it all goes on….

Psalm 143: 8 stood out to me very strongly earlier this week: Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Only God knows the way through this mess and so we continue to look to Him for day to day guidance.

It feels as though we are in a long night of shortages, difficulties, confusion and turmoil…but the morning will surely come.

In the middle of all of this we recently received some wonderful news that has felt like a little glimpse of dawn.

Some months back, before the power crisis started to affect the nation, a friend in Harare contacted us to say that his company which deals in solar powered energy, had been partnering with one of Germany’s biggest solar companies on some installations at a mission hospital. The German company wanted to further invest into Zimbabwe by donating into another project and he wondered if we’d be interested. Interested?! Ha!

This week he and a colleague came out to finalise a few details and told us that a team will be coming out from Germany in September to install as a gift to us a tailor-made solar unit to power our three boreholes and provide lighting for our children’s houses. This has come as such an encouragement in a very difficult time.

Finally…I thought I’d been doing pretty well ‘keeping all of the balls in the air’ during this past few days of chaos but maybe I haven’t looked as strong, calm and healthy and as I thought. Ruvarashe, aged 9, brought me a picture she’d coloured last evening when she came to give me a goodnight hug. She’d written on it: ‘Dear Miss Masho I love you so much becouse you love me to. I want you to love me I want yo to not die. Thank you’

Didn’t think I looked quite that bad! Am I weary? Yes a little. Am I worried? Not really. Do I know what to do? No, I haven’t a clue! Quite frankly it’s all too much for any one of us to try to figure out. We are just trying with His help, to keep things as settled as we can for the family here and waiting it all out until the full dawn breaks.

 So greatly appreciate your prayers for the nation as a whole and for the Montgomery family specifically.

Lesley

January 2018 Update - Lesley

“The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint. Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old, and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.”

— Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation)

Dear friends,

No doubt those of you who follow the international news are aware of the situation that Zimbabwe once again finds itself in: violent protests across the country, a three day national shut-down, supposed to end tomorrow, (but now that ‘Pandora’s box’ has been opened, will it?), internet blocked (ours, being run through a Belgian satellite, is still fully operational) etc, etc. Doom and gloom! Here we go again!

Much prayer needed for a peaceful resolution to the increasing mess.

However, here at Montgomery we are fine. We have felt the effects of the crisis but they have only been inconveniences really which we have adapted to…inability to get into Harare for hospital appointments and purchasing supplies, the children’s schools all shut down, delays in some maintenance work we’d planned, etc. Nothing insurmountable and in fact the children think it’s rather wonderful not having to go to school, especially our triplets, Melissa, Melody & Molline who seem to think they were given a holiday especially to celebrate their 7th birthday yesterday! 

Christmas, which seems an eternity ago now, was as always a great time at Montgomery Heights. Thanks to the generosity of so many of you, the children had a wonderful time. The fun started as usual when an excited ‘delivery team’ gathered outside my house on Christmas Eve to transport huge boxes of gifts to each house. BTW, Len’s white goatee was not grown for the occasion; it’s plastic and attached to the red Christmas spectacles!

A number of our older family, who are now working and living elsewhere, came home to share the time with us and Christmas Day saw me once again donning the chef’s hat to cook lunch for 84 - this year thankfully with a steady electricity supply! Wonderful teamwork made the huge task not only possible but great fun, even the washing up!

One thing that always really blesses and encourages me on these exhausting occasions is the real sense of ‘family’ that manifests itself so clearly. The government insist on referring to us as ‘an institution’, which makes many of our teenagers quite cross! ‘This is not an institution!’ one recently said indignantly, ’Montgomery Heights is a family!’ and Christmas demonstrates this so well.

Something else that has really encouraged us over these past few weeks is the generosity of the local Zimbabweans. These are incredibly difficult times for everyone in the country and yet so many have looked beyond their own needs and reached out to bless our family. I mentioned in my pre-Christmas letter that we were due to collect a donation of ice-cream, cheese and yoghurt. We went expecting 200 yoghurts which seemed rather a lot but were given 500…the children are still eating them! Then a number of different people donated loads of snacks, sweets and fizzy drinks to help increase our annual ‘junk food intake’.

As a rather interesting balance to this, a dental technician from a nearby hospital donated her time and skill to come over just after Christmas and carry our dental checks on all of our children. Most encouragingly we were complimented on the excellent state of our children’s teeth. She even checked all of the staff many of whom unfortunately did not get the same commendation!

On New Year’s Day a group of ladies in Harare, only two of whom are known to us, clubbed together to pay for a huge bouncy castle to be brought out to us for the day. The weather forecast was rather daunting, with heavy rain predicted but we prayed and the sun shone throughout the day with rain only coming late in the evening. The children had a wonderful time…as did Fiona! Never being one for trampolines, rope bridges or anything remotely unstable under my feet, I opted to supervise and watch from a safe distance!

Then just a couple of days ago we received a call from a business-man in Harare to tell us that he has organised for yet another bouncy castle and a huge water-slide to come for the day this coming Saturday and will also be bringing a special lunch for the whole family as well.  Such a blessing for the children, though rest assured I shall remain at a safe distance with my feet on solid ground, unless, of course, I am called upon to restrain the nurse!

To be honest life in Zimbabwe at the moment feels a bit like we are all on a bouncy castle…everything is completely unstable and there’s no way to tread firmly anywhere. But we continue to have a great sense of excitement about what God is going to do. Without a doubt there are very difficult times ahead for Zimbabwe but we are holding on to two specific words which the Lord has spoken to us for 2019:  ‘If you believe, you will see the glory of God’ (John 11: 40) and ‘Lord, I believe, help me overcome my unbelief’ (Mark 9: 24). Pray for us!

The greater the impossibility, the greater the opportunity for miracle!

Lesley

December 2018 Update - Lesley

Dear friends,

With Christmas almost upon us I just wanted to share one last update on Montgomery life for 2018.

Firstly, a very big thank you to everyone who contributed financially and ‘in kind’ towards gifts for the children. In spite of the continuing economic and supply problems in the country, due to your generosity we have managed to put together packages which we believe will delight the children next week…toys, books, clothes, back-packs, sandals and of course, the most important thing (to them anyway!), sweets and chocolates. Their gifts are now all packed and ready to be distributed to the respective houses on Christmas Eve.

It has really been a source of amazement to us just what we have managed to access in the current situation. Every time we have come to a point when we had a ‘gap’ that needed filling, either something arrived in the mail or we found exactly the right thing in the shops. It’s been the same with food items. A few weeks ago I announced to the children that we would no longer be able to give them meat for a while as prices had rocketed so high (almost 4 times the previous price); we would now have to substitute with soya protein. Within a week someone gave us money with which to purchase meat for two weeks and then last Friday someone else sent us a huge quantity of beef which will last us for about 3 months, as well as cooking oil to last about the same length of time, and 20 litres of ice cream for Christmas. Tomorrow I am collecting another donation of ice cream, yoghurt and cheese. Our biggest headache at the moment is trying to find sufficient freezer and cold room space to store these blessings! As Fiona has been known to say at such times, ‘It’s hard work managing miracles, isn’t it?’!!

For one of our family this will be her last Christmas with us. Tsitsi (Mercy) came to us as a tiny sick baby just over 18 years ago. We have watched the miracle of her life unfold through these past years as she has grown into a strong and responsible young lady. Over the past couple of years she has made a number of familiarisation visits to her grandmother who lives in a rural area some distance from us and during the first week of January she will be moving on to live with Granny. She is excited but, understandably, somewhat nervous. Pray that these last couple of weeks with us will be really special for Tsitsi, that everything the Lord wants to do in her life before the move will be completed and that her adjustment into rural family living will go smoothly.

A month ago today I received an early Christmas present (or some might say, one more responsibility!) when I was ‘adopted’ by a stray cat. She was found locked inside our sewing room. We have no idea how she got inside as there are no holes and the door and windows were all shut tightly. The last time anyone can remember opening the door to the room was about 3 – 4 weeks prior to when she was found. Despite being rather dehydrated, she seemed in fairly good shape and we thought she’d just run off when we opened the door but, no, she followed me. Being rather a softy in regards to cats,

I fed her and of course she has taken up permanent residence. The vet checked her over and proclaimed her ‘a miracle’ for surviving as she did. I have named her Tiqvah, Hebrew for Hope. Some of the children are still a little nervous around her, not being used to cats, but others love visiting her, especially Anna (12) who is absolutely besotted and pops in almost every day for a kitty-cuddle. 

As we close out this year, we still face incredible difficulties in Zimbabwe…fuel shortages, price increases, unavailability of goods, an incredibly complicated and confusing economic situation….but as we look back at the continuing, unfailing timely provision of our needs and the miracles of lives like Tsitsi’s, we move into 2019 with great hope and expectancy. Thank you for continuing on this journey of miracles with us.

May this Christmas also be a time of expectant hope for you!

Lesley